Emma O'Hora

2 papers in the library · 3 citations · publishing 2025-2026

Papers

The neuroscience of compassion: a scoping review of the literature on the neuroscience of compassion and compassion-related therapies.

Irish journal of psychological medicine March 25, 2025 Harshita Kamal, Orla Mitchell, Claire O'Doherty et al. 3 citations

Compassion motivates people to relieve others' pain and can enhance psychological wellness, but constant compassionate behavior, especially among healthcare workers, may lead to burnout. Compassion-focused meditation may relieve this burnout. This scoping review, following PRISMA guidelines, examined studies on neuroplastic changes from compassion-based meditation, excluding studies with multiple meditation practices, participants with psychiatric histories (except anxiety or depression), or exclusively aging populations. The reviewed studies found neurological changes in the amygdala, anterior insula, medial prefrontal cortex, medial orbitofrontal cortex, and dopamine system structures following compassion-based training. The review suggests such training could enhance well-being, resilience, and compassionate care in healthcare professionals, but more research is needed on sustained benefit and cost-effectiveness.

DOI: 10.1017/ipm.2025.7 Full text Compassion fatigue Empathy Health personnel

Using AI to Detect Psychosis Relapse: Scoping Review.

JMIR Ment Health June 16, 2026 Lorenzo Ghelfi, Jack Healy, Francesco Piacenza et al.

A scoping review of 10 studies found that artificial intelligence methods, including machine learning and digital phenotyping via smartphones and wearables, show promise for detecting relapse in psychotic disorders but have significant limitations. The sensitivity of AI models ranged from 0.25 to 0.77 and specificity from 0.06 to 0.88, with area under the curve between 0.63 and 0.78. Models were heterogeneous and most findings were not replicated. The review concludes that while personalized approaches with individual-level modeling are promising, larger studies and methods such as large language models are needed before AI can be used in real-world clinical practice.

DOI: 10.2196/92192 Full text